Welcome to Litsy!

Following the death of her grandmother, Freya spent this Christmas alone for the first time in years. Freya & her brother were raised by their grandparents after their parents died in an accident & Freya in particular was very close to her grandmother - living in the same house & running a bakery company 'Past Time Treats' together. Now both grandparents are dead & her brother has his own family, (continued)

Kathryn has recently split from her husband, & on a night out with a friend, meets Todd who is an IT expert including carrying out work for the local police department. Their relationship never really gets off the ground, but when Kathryn wants to call it off, the charming, helpful, affable Todd shows the other side to his personality, & due to his IT expertise he has access to her phone, her security cameras, & even her car. (continued)

This was an OK read. It doesn't really have the sense of menace that some of the earlier books had, & you have to suspend your disbelief for something stuff, such as that a hospital would let a member of staff just give their kid a copy of a patient sign-in sheet. I suppose it was the 90s but even so! (continued)

Short Review:

This was quite a good cosy mystery with a well-worked out plot. I found it difficult to warm to Midge as a main character at first, but then I pictured her as being played by a middle-aged Miriam Margolyes & that helped. I do think that she was a little bit too timid though, & her characterisation focused too much on her weight at times. I'd definitely read another 'Midge Mystery' though. 4🌟

Sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to start the Long Walk - an annual competition between 100 boys where the one to walk the longest distance wins his wildest dreams. The boys have to maintain a pace of 4 miles per hour, day & night, no stopping for toilet breaks, eating, or sleeping, & soldiers monitor them continuously. 3 warnings & you are out - permanently.

Bramwell Finch has just lost his old business partner & friend, & now looks set to miss out on his last hope for a coveted film award. Everything he sacrificed for success has come to nothing & now he has nothing & no-one. On Christmas Eve, Finch receives an invitation to a private screening at his studio, at a screening room he knows does not exist. Yet there it is - Room 6, & Finch sits down to watch his misdeeds played out onscreen.

Year 6 are on a coach bound for an activity trip to Crater Lake & are almost there when a strange, bloodstained man tries to stop the coach before collapsing. The teachers take the students the rest of the way on foot whilst the coach driver rings for an ambulance, but when they reach Crater Lake something is wrong at the activity centre.

27 short stories & poetry which take the infamous Borden murders as their starting point. There's a mix of psychological horror, supernatural horror, & science fiction takes on what happened that day, including the theory of Jack the Ripper escaping to America, spirit possession, & time travel to name a few.

For me, the standout stories were:

14) 'Done to the Letter' by Allie Harrison (the aforementioned JtR link)

continued...

A book detailing the life & disappearance of explorer Hubert Darrell in 1910. Although he was respected by people such as Roald Amundsen for his feats in crossing uncharted areas of the Northwest Territories alone & on foot, after his disappearance his name has largely faded into history. So what actually happened to Darrell?

1978 & Mrs. Medlock is housekeeper to Lord & Lady Ashton at Marwood Manor including caring for their sickly young son. When an orphaned distant relative, a young girl named Mary, comes to live at the Manor, Mrs Medlock knows she is going to be trouble from the off. Sullen, uncooperative & unruly, the only thing that interests Mary is a locked door in a long wall outside.....